Tawba (repentance): In the sacred law (sharīʿa), it means turning away from that which is censured and forbidden, and turning towards that which is praiseworthy and legitimate. Indeed, tawba is the beginning of the path for the sālik (spiritual traveler), the key to happiness for the murīd (aspirant, disciple), and a condition for the soundness of the journey to the Exalted Allah.
Truly, the Exalted Allah has commanded tawba to the believers in many verses, making it a cause for salvation in this world and the Hereafter.
In al-Nūr 24:31, the Exalted Allah says:
"O you who have believed, turn to Allah in repentance all together that you might succeed."
In Hūd 11:52:
"O my people, seek forgiveness from your Lord and then turn to Him in repentance."
In al-Taḥrīm 66:8:
"O you who have believed, turn to Allah with sincere repentance. It may be that your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds."
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), though he was infallible, would frequently renew his tawba and repeatedly seek forgiveness (istighfār), in order to teach his community the legitimacy of tawba. From Agharr b. Yāsir al-Muzanī (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O people! Turn to Allah in tawba and seek His forgiveness. Truly, I turn to Him in tawba one hundred times a day."[1]
Imam al-Nawawī (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "It is obligatory to make tawba for every sin. If the act of disobedience does not pertain to the right of another person, but is between the servant and the Exalted Allah, then tawba has three conditions:
1- To completely cease and withdraw from the sin,
2- To feel remorse for having committed the sin,
3- To resolve never to return to that sin ever again.
If any of these three conditions is missing, the tawba is not valid. If the act of disobedience pertains to the rights of others, then there is a fourth condition: after the above three, one must seek reconciliation and purification with the person whose right was violated. If the right involves property or similar, it must be returned and reconciliation sought; if it is a legal penalty due to a false accusation of adultery, the wronged person must be allowed to carry out the penalty or be asked for pardon. If it is backbiting, forgiveness must be sought. Thus, it is obligatory to make tawba from all sins.[2]
The conditions of tawba also include separating from corrupt companions who encourage and make one love disobedience and aversion to obeying the Exalted Allah, and instead joining the company of righteous and sincere people. Their companionship prevents a return to a life of disobedience and opposition.
In a well-known and authentic hadith, there are astonishing lessons for us. In the story of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him):[3] The man who had killed one hundred people was told by the most learned person of his time that Allah would accept his tawba, but he must leave his corrupt environment, which had greatly influenced his deviation and sin. He was then directed to go to a righteous land inhabited by pious believers whose ways he should follow.
Following the beautiful Companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), the Sufi should not consider the smallness of his sin, but rather the greatness of his Lord. Anas b. Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You commit deeds which you consider to be finer than a hair, but in the time of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), we used to count them among the major sins."[4]
The Sufi should not make tawba only when he commits a sin. For such tawba, in his own view, is the tawba of the common people. Rather, the Sufi should also make tawba from anything that distracts his qalb (the heart) from Allah. When the great Sufi Dhū al-Nūn al-Miṣrī (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about tawba, he said: "The tawba of the common people is from sin, the tawba of the elect is from heedlessness."[5]
ʿAbdullāh al-Tamīmī (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "There are differences among those who repent. Some repent from sins and evil deeds, some from slips and heedlessness, and some from admiring their own good deeds and acts of obedience."[6]
Know that whenever the Sufi perfects his knowledge of the Exalted Allah, his actions increase, and he repents even for the subtlest faults. Whoever's qalb is purified from sins and filth, and upon whom the lights of intimacy dawn, there is no fear of hidden afflictions entering his qalb. When he fears slips and missteps, the purity of his qalb is not tainted. Even if one of these enters his qalb, he is ashamed before Allah, who sees him, and repents.
He increases his tawba by making much istighfār (seeking forgiveness) day and night. This causes the Sufi to realize his true servitude and his shortcomings before his Lord. This is a sign of his confession of servitude and acknowledgment of his Lord.
The Sufi recites from the Book of the Exalted Allah, Nūḥ 71:10-12:
∃
∃
"And I said, 'Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Indeed, He is ever a Perpetual Forgiver. He will send [rain from] the sky upon you in [continuing] showers, and give you increase in wealth and children and provide for you gardens and provide for you rivers.'"
And in al-Dhāriyāt 51:15-18:
∃
∃
∃
"Indeed, the righteous will be among gardens and springs, accepting what their Lord has given them. Indeed, they were before that doers of good. They used to sleep but little of the night, and in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness."
The Sufi, upon reciting these and other verses, weeps out of sorrow for his shortcomings and for having exceeded bounds before the Exalted Allah. Thereafter, he turns to his faults, removes them, and purifies his nafs (the lower self) by preventing further shortcomings.
Then, following the saying of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "When you commit a sin, follow it up with a good deed; it will erase it," he increases his acts of obedience and good deeds.[7]
Ahmad Zarrūq (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his "Qawāʿid": "The outcome of the claimant's claim is what matters. If the claim matches the reality, it is valid; if not, the claimant is a liar. Thereafter, tawba without taqwa (God-consciousness) is invalid. Taqwa that is not manifest in outward uprightness is invalid. Uprightness lacking warāʿ (scrupulousness) is deficient. Warāʿ that does not result in zuhd (asceticism) is flawed. Zuhd that does not produce tawakkul (reliance upon God) is a hollow claim. Cutting oneself off from everything without manifesting its fruits, and seeking refuge in Allah only outwardly, is not tawakkul. The soundness of tawba becomes evident when confronted with forbidden things. Only Allah knows the perfection of taqwa. Uprightness is found in fulfilling one's litanies without introducing innovations. One is a person of warāʿ if he abandons doubtful matters when he desires them; if not, he is not a person of warāʿ."[8]
Footnotes
- Related by Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ, in the Book of Dhikr.
- Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, p. 10.
- Related by Muslim in the Book of Tawba, from Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him).
- Related by Bukhārī in the Book of Softening the Heart, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him).
- Risāla al-Qushayriyya, Bāb al-Tawba, p. 47.
- Risāla al-Qushayriyya, Bāb al-Tawba, p. 47.
- Related by Tirmidhī in the Book of Birr, and he said the hadith is hasan and authentic. (This hadith was narrated from our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by Muʿādh b. Jabal and Abū Dharr (may Allah be pleased with them). The full hadith is: "Wherever you are, fear Allah; follow up a bad deed with a good one—it will erase it; and treat people with good character.")
- Shaykh Ahmad Zarrūq, Qawāʿid al-Taṣawwuf, p. 74.
- Related by Tirmidhī in the Book of the Description of the Resurrection, from Shaddād b. Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said the hadith is hasan.
- Sayyid Ahmad al-Rifāʿī (may Allah have mercy on him), al-Burhān al-Muʾayyad, p. 56.
- Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, vol. 4, p. 545.